This Is How We Fell Apart
by Tai to the Spirit World
Summary: What really happened that faithful summer night, when a girl disappeared and wound up dead? What really killed her? Who? Why? No answers, no suspects, and no looking back. It's an endless cycle of dead ends. The Generation of Miracles are the only ones who know the truth. And they aren't talking.
1. Prologue:

Prologue:

A pair of size ten, all-black Chuck Taylor hightops laid, abandoned, just outside Teiko's school gym, for almost three years.

Everyone knew who's shoes those were, but no one moved them, ever. They stayed exactly as they had been when they had first been taken of their owner's feet, as if someone was going to run over and put them on at any second.

No one would.

No one dared to move those shoes. The person who had once worn them was far too precious, and far too gone, to erase from Teiko. Those shoes were a memorial of sorts, a tribute to a long-gone teenager who would never grow up.

Never.

And The Generation of Miracles were the only people who knew what truly happened that faithful summer night, the night when a girl had run off and left her hightops behind.

The next morning, she was found, dead in ditch. No explanations, no suspects, no answers.

The Generation of Miracles knew the truth. And they weren't talking.


	2. Chapter One:

Chapter One:

_The Tokyo Times_

_August 14, Saturday_

**_MISSING JUNIOR-HIGH-SCHOOLER FOUND DEAD_**

_Yohiko Hitomi, a bright-eyed sweetheart from Southern Osaka who, until recently, attended Teikou Junior High, was found dead on Friday, August 13. Yohiko was discovered by teacher and soccer coach, Seiji Omaji, at approximately 7 o'clock AM. _

_"I didn't know what to think when I first saw her," Seiji says, "I thought maybe she had fallen down and gotten stuck, and reached out to help her up."_

_Seiji was unaware, at the time, that Yohiko had been dead for several hours before his arrival. When Seiji pulled the girl from the ditch, he tried desperately to revive her, and later called 119*. An ambulance was dispatched to the area, but paramedics were unable to revive Yohiko, and she was pronounced dead at 7:09 AM._

_Yohiko had been pronounced missing on August 12__th__, when she did not return home from school that morning. Police spent the evening searching the area around Teikou for any sign of Yohiko, but none were discovered. It is presumed that Yohiko was murdered, and her body was then dropped off, left in a ditch to rot. _

_Yohiko's body was covered with violent abrasions and bruises, as well as several fractured ribs and an almost completely severed femur. Yohiko also had a severe concussion, one that may have caused her death. Yohiko had also been violated sexually. _

_"It looked brutal… But in a careful sort of way, like she had been killed in a way that was very well planned," Seiji says with a shudder as he reminisces about what he saw earlier this morning. "And it was disgusting to think that someone would do that to a little girl."_

_An autopsy is currently in progress, solely for the purpose of determining her cause of death. The results should be in by August 21. _

_"I still can't believe it," Yohiko Tomoko, mother of Yohiko Hitomi, remarks with tears in he eyes, "My baby girl is gone… It's just not right."_

_The Tokyo Times offers our sincere condolences to the Yohiko family during this difficult time. _

_If you have any information in regards to the murder of Yohiko Hitomi, contact the authorities IMEADIATELY._

Aomine Daiki woke up early that morning, before the sun was even up, and he had no idea why. Aomine _loved_ sleeping with a passion, and he often laid out as long as he could, usually until his mother came in and started screaming at him to wake up.

Aomine looked at the clock. 5:49 AM, and he was already awake. _Peachy_, Aomine groused as he poured himself a cup of milk and flicked on the TV. He found a rerun of an old NBA game and sat, engrossed, for several minutes.

The doorbell rung, and Aomine got up to answer, though he couldn't figure out who in their right mind would visit him at 5:57 in the morning, _and on a Saturday, for the love of Kami! _

Aomine answered the door, doing his best to look at least a little cheerful, and froze.

What stood in front of him was not the paperboy, like he had expected, but was instead two police officers.

"Son, take a seat. We've got some questions to ask you."

Kise Ryouta giggled softly to himself as he dribbled his basketball on the polished wooden floor of his bedroom, and smiled at the _thunk! _noises the basketball made as it smacked against the floor. Kise knew he had to practice his dribbling so he could be as good as Aominecchi one day, and maybe even better! Kise spun around and tossed the ball into his trash bin, and cheered softly as it made it in, just like Aominecchi's free throws always did.

Kise was so distracted that he barely even noticed the sound of glass shattering downstairs, or his mother's horrified gasps. Kise was in his zone, and nothing else mattered.

He froze at the sound of his mother's scream.

"RYOUTA!"

Kise's basketball bounced to the floor, and knocked over his collection of NBA figurines that sat nearby. Kise didn't move to clean them up. Instead, he looked up in fear at the two police officers standing in front of him.

Murasakibara was the first to know.

The Yohiko family lived next door to Murasakibara's family, and Murasakibara, or Atsu-chin, as Hitomi had called him, had been Hitomi's best friend since childhood.

It had started off as a good day for Murasakibara. He had woken up in a good mood, and his mother had made him his favourite breakfast, which was a little of everything rolled into one. He had practiced his free throws, and then he had gone next door to see if Hitomi had wanted to come out and play.

No one was home.

Murasakibara wondered where she'd gone as he walked back towards his yard. Vacation, maybe? The Yohikos were from Osaka, and they sometimes disappeared randomly and turned up a few days (or weeks) later, tanned and smelling of the sea, and telling tales of their fun back "home".

It made so much since to Murasakibara that he didn't even question it. All was well, or so he thought.

Murasakibara reached his house just as the police car pulled over the hill, lights on and sirens blaring.

Hitomi did not come home that day.

Or any other day.

Midorima Shintaro spent most of his time reading. He read almost constantly, and he read _everything_. He read encyclopedias and novellas, journals and long essays, sports stats and even newspapers. Newspapers were not Midorima's favourite, but they held information that he could sometimes not find anywhere else. And coupons. Midorima was a closet super saver, and spent a great deal of time cutting out coupons and organizing them for later use. And today was Saturday, which meant coupons _galore_ in the Tokyo Times.

Midorima opened his front door and bent down to pick up the newspaper. It was folded neatly in half and wrapped in plastic, as always, but the large, bold kanji caught his eye before he noticed anything else.

**_MISSING JUNIOR-HIGH-SCHOOLER FOUND DEAD_**

Midorima quickly unwrapped the paper, and scanned the article for all it was worth.

No.

No.

No.

It was _impossible_, absolutely impossible. There was **no** way that Hitomi was dead. He had seen her, what, yesterday? Not missing, no, not missing.

_But wait… Hitomi wasn't in class yesterday morning… _

Midorima realized he had not seen his friend in two days. Neither had Murasakibara, and he _lived next door. _If Murasakibara hadn't seen Hitomi, then there was not a single shroud of a doubt that this whole thing wasn't just some prank. The two were inseparable, as hard as that was to believe. Murasakibara wasn't a social person, yet he had a stronger bond with Hitomi than he anyone else did.

Midorima did what he thought was best.

He picked up the phone, and silently dialed Murasakibara's number. At this point, Midorima didn't care about how desperate this seemed. All he cared about was Hitomi.

"This is the Murasakibara Residence. We are unable to take your call at this moment, but please leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can!" A loud beep resounded in the background, and Midorima bit his lower lip. _Where could he have gone?_

"Yes, this is Midorima. I read a strange article today and was wondering if you could tell me something…"  
Midorima trailed off as he caught sight of the silhouette looming outside his front door. A police officer.

"It's about Hitomi. Can you-?"

The phone clattered to the floor as the door swung open.

Akashi Seijuro smirked to himself as he slid his last shogi piece into place, and theoretically sealed his opponent's fate.

_Weak as always, Father._

The elder Akashi's strange, multi-colured eyes ghosted along the shogi board, searching for a way out of his son's trap. _There's no way out, Father. Why can't you see?_

The elder Akashi raised his hands in defeat, and allowed a sigh to escape his thin lips.

"You've beaten me again, Seijuro. Excellent work."

Akashi smirked again as eyed his winnings, and vowed to never lose _anything_, ever. Akashi Seijuro was a winner.

Akashi's father excused himself for a moment and headed to go make himself a "_I've just lost a lot of money to my fifteen-year old_" pick-me-up, which was a mixture of tequila, hard liquor, and chilled lemonade in a shot class, leaving Akashi to enjoy his winnings in solitude.

The maid chose this moment to enter the room, and told Akashi that he had a guest.

"Send them in, if you would," Akashi had said.

Akashi had expect Kuroko, or maybe Midorima, or even Aomine. Akashi prided himself on being an unshakable, unmovable, genius of a man, and expected things many did not. Akashi could almost see into the future, and was, as a result, nearly always right.

But Akashi did not expect to see the police officer.

Akashi did not expect to hear him say, "Akashi Seijuro, you are now under arrest for possible involvement in the murder of Yohiko Hitomi."

Akashi did not expect it at all.

Kuroko Tetsuya knew they were coming before they knew where he was. He could hear them in the distance, sirens wailing and lights flashing. Kuroko heard them get closer, and closer, and closer still, until the police cars were in his driveway, and the police were getting out of the car.

They didn't see him.

At that moment, Kuroko had never been more grateful for his misdirection abilities.

They knocked on his door, loud and anxious, ready to make an arrest, with handcuffs drawn like lethal weapons.

What was wrong? Did someone break into Kuroko's house while he was playing outside?

Kuroko's grandmother, Terumi, answered the door with a bright smile that later turned to horror.

_Police? Did Daddy do something wrong?_

"We are hear to detain a Kuroko Tetsuya."

"Why? What did my baby grandson do?!" Terumi demanded they hash out all the details, every bit the spitfire she had been at fifteen, though now eighty-four years old.

The police officer had squinted down at Terumi, scrutinized her like a stain on a shirt, and then scoffed.

"We have reason to believe that he may have been involved in the murder of Yohiko Hitomi."

Terumi's bright blue eyes had clouded with worry, and her breathing had become tight and drawn.

"Tetsuya, darling, someone wants to see you!" She had called out the door.

Kuroko had slid up behind the police officers, unbeknownst to them, and tapped one of them on the shoulder.

"I'm right here."

The man jumped.

Later, Kuroko would wondered what would have happened if he had just stayed hidden.

One by one, the Generation of Miracles were led into a large, empty room. There were six chairs underneath a freakishly bright lamp, one that blurred out the surroundings when flicked on. One by one, they were sat down in the chairs, in order of height, with the tallest first- Murasakibara, Midorima, Aomine, Kise, Kuroko, and then Akashi.

A man in a long, dark trench coat entered the room, notepad in hand. He surveyed them all with frigid, beady eyes, and then, one by one, spoke their names.

"Murasakibara Atsushi,"

"Midorima Shintaro,"

"Aomine Daiki,"

"Kise Ryouta,"

"Kuroko Tetsuya,"

"And Akashi Seijuro,"

"You are all here because we have reason to believe that you murdered a young girl named Yohiko Hitomi. Now, tell me…"

"…Did you, or did you not kill Yohiko?"

*- is the Japanese version of the North American 911, or emergency call. This is the number you dial when something is on fire, or when someone needs immediate medical assistance.

_Hi guys! That's a cliffhanger if there ever was one, eh? Please inform me of any typos, because I don't have a BETA and English is not my first language. I will do my best to correct any errors as soon as I can. _

_My amazing cover art is via my good friend and artist, Kumi Jiminez. Her deviant art is here: avatarkumi . deviant art . c o m_

_(with the spaces removed and the 'dot's replaced with actual .) Please visit her page! _

_XX- Tai_


	3. Chapter Two:

_"Murasakibara Atsushi,"_

_"Midorima Shintaro,"_

_"Aomine Daiki,"_

_"Kise Ryouta,"_

_"Kuroko Tetsuya,"_

_"Akashi Seijuro,"_

_"You are all here because we have reason to believe that you murdered a young girl named Yohiko Hitomi. Now, tell me…"_

_"…Did you, or did you not kill Yohiko?"_

The silence after the man's question seemed to stretch on for hours, maybe even years, but, in reality, only lasted for a few seconds. Kise began to cry hysterically, and one by one, they all began to react.

Murasakibara _refused_ to believe this man was telling the truth. "Liar!" He had screamed. "Tomi-chin is fine, I'm sure of it!"

Midorima had nodded, misty-eyed, but understood. He had known. He read the article. But it still hurt to have it all spelled out in front of him, _and they thought he had killed her. _That was enough, in Midorima's eyes, to make anyone tear up.

Aomine sat, still as a statue, and didn't move until tears began rolling down his cheeks. He had swatted them away, angry and hurt, and _so, so_ scared, like a child who hadn't wanted to believe the truth.

Kuroko looked shocked, as if someone had jumped out and poured a bucket of ice-cold water on his head, and then ran away. His eyes revealed nothing, as usual, but he reached out to pat Kise's leg, in an affectionate way that said, '_it will be alright_', even if it wasn't.

Akashi looked a little shaken, a look that no one would have expected from their stone-cold leader. Akashi's surprise and horror –_and was that worry in his eyes?_- told everyone what they needed to know.

This was not okay.

It would not_, could not_, be okay.

…

The man in the trenchcoat was known as Officer Rei Tamagaki, and he was one hell of an interrogator. He grilled them for every bit of information he could.

"Where were you on August 12?" He barked.

"School," they all answered in unison.

"After that?" He roared.

"I was supposed to play one-on-one with Hitomi, but she never showed," Aomine had said.

This caught Rei's attention. "Never showed?"

"I waited on the court for her for two hours and she never showed up." Aomine whispered.

It was obvious what had been going on in Aomine's mind. _Click, click, click,_ all the pieces were sliding into place.

Midorima, who was in Hitomi's class, had said she hadn't been in school that morning.

Murasakibara adamantly insisted them that they had walked halfway to school together, but Hitomi had forgotten her math homework and had rushed home to grab it.

_She had told Murasakibara to go on ahead._

Akashi had said that she'd never showed up to play shogi like she normally did during lunch break.

Kuroko had said that she had never been in art class with him that afternoon.

Kise had told Rei that Hitomi hadn't shown up during any of the locker breaks, and he should know- _their lockers were next door to one another._

It was concluded that Hitomi had not shown up to school at all.

Whatever had happened, had happened when she had gone back home to pick up her math homework, _and wound up dead_.

Rei had smirked at all of them, malicious and vile, and said two simple words:

"Anything else?"

…

They had been deemed free men at nearly midnight that evening. It was dark, they were tired, and Aomine was ready to _cry his eyes out_ as soon as his mother came to take him home.

They all sat in a bunch, squashed together even though there was room elsewhere. Aomine had Tetsu practically in his lap, and Kise's head on his shoulder. Murasakibara was next to Kise, gently rubbing the sniffling blonde's back, with Akashi on his other side, gripping tightly to Murasakibara's shirt. Midorima was on Akashi's other side, looking like someone had run him over with an 18-wheeler, but he was not seeking any physical comfort. He was trying to keep it all inside, and not doing a very good job.

Their parents arrived in a swarm, all-coming in to collect their teenagers with relief evident in their eyes.

Aomine wanted to sob with relief when he spotted his mother, but he had to wiggle out from underneath Tetsu first- and there was no way in hell that he was going to have a break down in front of his team. No, no, no.

He waited until he was formally discharged, and outside in the rain, to start bawling like a baby.

His mother came up behind him and pulled him into her arms, even though he was now taller than her and heavy with the weight of the world, it still felt nice to be in her arms.

"Shh, Daiki, I've got you," His mother said, voice gentle and soothing, "When we get to the car, you can go to sleep, alright? Take a nice little nap…"

Aomine is asleep as soon as he's in his seat in his mother's beat up Honda, before she has even started the engine.

Aomine dreams of his best friend, someone he likes even more than Satsuki, and…

The one who died. _Yohiko Hitomi._

Murasakibara was doing his best not to cry, not to flip out and kill someone on accident because _it hurt so fucking much. _It was his best friend in **_the entire world_** who was dead. His. What Murasakibara wanted to know was _who would do such a thing?_ Hitomi was very much a person who had no enemies- she was on good terms with _everyone_. In Murasakibara's mind, this meant that _no one _would have any reason to do something like this. It must have been one of those crimes that happened for no real reason.

What Murasakibara didn't realize was that no crime was ever without a reason.

Murasakibara had gone home with his father, a man taller than even him, and had gone over to the Yohiko home right away. Everyone in his family had, all two brothers and one sister, his parents, Murasakibara's father's parents, and of course Murasakibara himself. They had arrived in a flash of technicolour purple, all gangly giants struggling to fit underneath the low doorframes of the Yohiko home. The whole Murasakibara family had practically crushed the Yohikos in tight hugs, hugs that said, "We're here for you."

The Murasakibaras and the Yohikos had been neighbours since the Yohikos had moved up from Osaka when Hitomi was two years old, which meant Murasakibara had been playing with Hitomi for _thirteen whole years. _In short, the two were (had been, any way) practically brother and sister. They spent all their time together, sneaking snacks and playing basketball (though Murasakibara sometimes said he hated basketball and never wanted to play again), and they walked to school together every morning, as they had since yochien*, back when they had held hands and walked along with their parents, too small to know the way on their own. Murasakibara had only been a little taller than average then, and _Hitomi had been taller _for nearly four years. Then Murasakibara's growth had exploded and he had grown into a giant of sorts.

It did not help that he had purple hair.

Most people were either afraid of Murasakibara, or they mocked him for his huge size and general clumsiness. It did not help that Murasakibara wasn't particularly talented in the academic area, often struggling with simple things like spelling the word 'conjugate', or dividing by 3.91. This seemed to amuse people to no end- a giant boy with bright purple hair who struggled to go for very long in class without eating, a boy who struggled to read long after his other classmates, struggled with everything that wasn't sports. Hitomi had been there for him, for all of that. She too was a hulking giantess, all the worse for her because she was female. Boys used to mock her for her 'freakish' height and flat chest, saying she was probably just a boy in a skirt. (She wasn't. Murasakibara had seen her _naked_, for crying out loud.)

Hitomi couldn't be gone, in his opinion. He _needed_ her, in the same way he needed air. More than he needed snacks. Without Hitomi, where would he go? He was so used to spending all his time with her, all his afternoons not previously occupied by basketball (and sometimes even then), all his long nights when his parents would fight with one another about the smallest things, and then make up the next morning. Hitomi was always there, always in his life. Murasakibara had expected her to be around for the rest of it, when he was old and gray and feeble, and maybe even past then, when he was reincarnated (if such things really happened) or maybe if he ended up in Heaven (if that was a place). Murasakibara didn't know what to believe anymore.

He had never felt so alone.

Kise Ryouta felt like he was choking on nothing at all. Hitomi, dead? It… just didn't add up! The girl was _way_ too friendly, way too kind to spark any sort of fight between someone that would ultimately end up in death. Not even someone as crazy as Haizaki (who surely had a few screws loose, if you knew what Kise was getting at) would even think of doing something as horrible as killing Hitomicchi!

It didn't make _any _sense at all.

What made even less sense was the idea of **_any_** of the first-string of the Teiko basketball club killing Hitomi, who was basically their princess. A joint best friend. Even Akashi got along with her, for crying out loud! (And that was _something_)

Hitomicchi was a girl who had no enemies.

She had been informal, almost callous when they'd first met, announcing to everyone that they'd best not call her Yohiko, but instead call her by her first name, Hitomi.

"Yohiko is my father's name, and his father's before him. One day it will belong to my older brother. I will take another name one day, when I become someone's wife." Hitomi had said, her dark eyes glittering with mischief. It had been hard to imagine her as anyone's wife at first, but everything changed when Hitomi and Aomine had begun to develop a chemistry that was rivaled by no other.

Love at first sight.

Kise remembered playing matchmaker for the two of them, back when they had first come to Teiko, when they were all thirteen. Aomine had been hopelessly crushing on the tall, oblivious raven, and Hitomi had been interested in three things:

Basketball, food, and Murasakibara.

Kise was pretty sure that Murasakibara had had at least a _little_ crush on Hitomi during the first year at Teiko, but he lost romantic interest in her later, as they matured, and Hitomi continued to be 'one of the guys' in Muraskibara's eyes.

Hitomi would later fall so hard for Aomine that it wasn't even funny, but she had needed a little push first. She had been as clueless as Murasakibara in that department at first, probably because she spent **_so_** much time with the emotionally immature (and otherwise immature) giant. Kise had to basically spell it out for her, saying things like, "Hitomicchi!- Aominecchi and I want to hang out on Saturday! Meet us at the park at four." And then Kise would feign sickness and leave the two alone for hours on end.

Love blossomed, frail, fickle and fleeting, between two clueless, mildly moronic just-turned-teenagers who would rather play one-on-one than get all lovey-dovey _any_ time.

Somehow, it worked.

Midorima struggled to come to terms with what had happened in the same way Murasakibara did. Hitomi was one of the most vibrant people in his life, a person he'd counted on graduating with, and maybe going to college with, if Hitomi was truly interested in oriental medicine like she'd said. Midorima had expected to die before Hitomi, because men typically died before women of their same age did, and never have to live without her.

Midorima had spent far too much time planning and worrying about everything _else_ in his life to bother with worrying about things like his friends dying too young and leaving him behind…

Because, without her, who else did he have? Midorima was a quiet, intellectual person who tended to shy away from others unintentionally. Hitomi had come bursting into his life via Murasakibara, who he only tolerated for the sake of the team (originally), offering a valuable social connection that Midorima would not have received otherwise. She had effectively forced him upon the other members of the team, inviting him to all of their outings (though Midorima often respectively declined for fear of intruding on friendship) and parties until it was so natural that no one even gave it a second thought.

"Midorimacchi!"

"Mido-chin!"

"Yo, Midorima,"

"Shintaro,"

"_Shin-kun_," Their own unique names for him became pieces of Midorima's identity, and they fit him like nothing else ever would.

Hitomi had called him Midorima-kun first, and then Shin-kun. They had grown so close in a matter of _three years _that it felt like Midorima had known her his entire life.

They were seamless, flawless, perfection. Midorima craved perfection, and he had achieved it with only one person, ever.

He had called her Yohiko first, much to Hitomi's irritation and dismay ("I'm not an old lady, dude! Use my real name!"), and then he had called her Hitomi.

Before she died, he had called her Tomi.

Kuroko Tetsuya may not have shown what he felt well at all, _but he was sure as hell feeling it_.

Kuroko may not have been closest to Hitomi, but he had grown attached to her, almost dependent, and craved her loud, open presence when she wasn't around. She would often remember him when others didn't, because Hitomi was far more vigilant than she let on.

"Oh, psh! Tetsu-kun, you flatter me," Hitomi would say when he'd mention her impressive visionary abilities, as if he was making it all up.

He wasn't.

For someone so open, Hitomi had a surprising amount of secrets to keep.

Like the thing about the dreadlocks- _yes, dreadlocks_. She must have _known _that was coming, but she hadn't said anything to anyone, and it had been one hell of a shocker. Kuroko smiled softly to himself as he remembered what had happened that day.

_Hitomi and Murasakibara had entered at the same time as usual, but Hitomi had looked… different. Drastically so. Her hair, usually long and obnoxiously curly (especially when it rained), had been twisted into teeny, tiny braids. It still hung and moved like real hair, but it looked more like thick, black rope than anything else. _

_"Hitomicchi! How could you do this to meeee?!" Kise whined and flailed about, obviously upset about Hitomi's new hairstyle._

_Hitomi had brought one long, thin finger up to Kise's forhead, and had flicked him as if to say "Dude!"_

_"My mom wanted me to get these," Hitomi explained as she rolled one strand around her finger, "It's kind of a tradition."_

_"Screw tradition! You had beautiful hair!" Kise had wailed, clearly distressed._

_Hitomi had rolled her eyes and patted him on top of the head with on large hand, because, back then, Hitomi and Murasakibara had been the tallest of their little group, before Kise, Aomine, and Midorima had caught up to them._

_"My hair was so big you could barely see my face. How is that beautiful?!" Hitomi had asked, half-way joking and half way serious._

_"It was different. Not boring straight hair like everyone else has!"_

_Midorima had rolled his eyes, but had complimented Hitomi on her hair later, when he thought no one was listening._

_Kuroko was._

_"I like them," Aomine had mused as he ran his fingers through Hitomi's thick hair, a gesture that would later grow into a habit._

_Akashi had simply chosen not to say anything at all about Hitomi's hair, but had demanded her presence at lunch for a game a shogi, as he always did. Hitomi never refused him._

_Kise, on the other hand, hadn't forgiven Hitomi for changing her hair without consulting him for nearly three weeks._

_It was funny how a little thing like that had seemed like the end of the world to a fourteen-year old._

.

.

_…_

*Yochien is the Japanese word for kindergarten, basically.

_I know the POVs are jumping around, but it shouldn't be like this for much longer. I will try to keep it to 1-2 POV after I get thru this drama! I had these nice, neat little separations set up in between their POVs, but refused to save them, and wouldn't let me space anything out so I'm just a bit pissed about the way this is organized._

_This chap wouldn't come out the way I wanted it to, but I hope this is acceptable!_

_Sorry for the long wait in update!_


	4. Chapter Three:

Dedicated to my first reviewer, melodilove3! She's been there for me since the beginning, and I would like to formally thank her for all her support. Thanks for being there for me, dear! :heart:

Now on to the chapter!

.

.

.

Akashi Seijuro knew something wasn't right. This whole case was random and unexplainable, and he was a top-profile suspect! Akashi could tell Rei didn't buy their stories, and until he had a solid alibi, he was as good as convicted in the interrogator's eyes.

Akashi knew something was drastically and horribly wrong when one of his eyes changed colour, right in front of Rei. This had happened to his father when his mother had died- the emotional stress had caused a severe reaction that was largely unexplainable in medical terms. Akashi supposed it was a genetic reaction to tragedy.

_Something just didn't add up._

Akashi automatically made a play-by-play of Hitomi's last day alive. _She woke up and ate with Murasakibara, because his mother had made eggs the way Hitomi liked them. She'd gone back to her own house and grabbed her school books, and then met up with Murasakibara at the end of their shared driveway. They started down the road towards school, and were nearly there before Hitomi realized that she had misplaced her math homework._

_"I'll be right behind you, Atsu-chin! You go on ahead!"_

_She had walked away and never came back. Someone must have caught her on her way back home… _

Akashi picked up his cellphone and dialed (Atsushi's) number, not caring about the time (2:09 AM).

He picked up right away. "Hello?"

"Yes, Atsushi, this is Akashi. I need you to check something for me. Where are you now?"

"I'm at the Yohiko's. Why?"

_They must be helping the Yohikos thru the grieving… _"Could you pop upstairs to Hitomi's room and look around for the math homework she went back for?"

"Okay," Murasakibara was happy to oblige.

Akashi could hear the sound of a bamboo door sliding open, and the rustling sounds Murasakibara made as he dug thru Hitomi's belongings.

"I don't see it- but that doesn't mean she didn't have it… Why did you want me to look again?"

"You see, Atsushi, Hitomi's schoolbag was found with her body. She didn't have her math homework, even though you and I both know she did it. Isn't that odd?" Akashi murmured, waiting for Murasakibara to react.

"Ne? How- but that would mean-"

"Precisely, my dear Atsushi."

Akashi paused for a moment to clear his throat before continuing.

"Hitomi was set up."

.

.

.

Kise Ryouta decided he believed in ghosts that very August, when his best friend died and he could still see her.

She was waiting.

Her dark eyes lit up when she spotted him, shockingly clear and bright against her transparent skin. Her thin lips parted and then closed again, as if she was rehearsing a speech.

"_Kise…_" Her voice was like a whisper, clawing at his ears like a cold winter's night.

"Hitomicchi!"

Kise reached out for her, as if she was still there and this whole ordeal was nothing but a bad dream, and touched nothing but frigid air.

"Wha-?!"

"_I'm sorry, Kise. I'm so sorry._" Hitomi apologized a thousand times, her transparent hands smoothing his hair.

"Hitomicchi, why can't I touch you? You're here!" Kise wailed.

"_But I'm not. I'm stuck between the two worlds, and I need your help."_

"I-I don't know how…"

"_Ryouta._"

Kise looked up, golden eyes swimming with tears. "Hitomicchi said my name!"

"_Ryouta, you didn't know how to play basketball either, but that didn't stop you. You can save me. I know you can."_

Kise vowed, then and there, to save her. He had to. Hitomichii _needed _him.

Best friends, together forever.

.

.

.

_"Do you, Aomine Daiki, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?_

_Through sickness and health, through bad and through good, till death do you part?"_

_"I do."_

_"Yohiko Hitomi, daughter of Raoul and Betrique, third heir of the Yohiko clan, do you take this man, son of Daisuke and René, heir of the Daiki, to be your lawfully wedded husband?"_

_"I do."_

_"You may now kiss the bride."_

Aomine Daiki dreamed of an unconventional wedding to his girlfriend the night she died.

He woke up, laughing to himself, and smiled.

The next day, she was dead.

.

.

Kuroko Tetsuya knew something wasn't right. He just knew. Akashi had called a meeting on a Sunday, which he _never _did. Midorima looked as if he had been either assaulted or run over multiple times, which he _never _did. Murasakibara, for once, was without a snack in his hand. Kise Ryouta was scowling at nothing, which he _never _did. Aomine Daiki looked a little tearful, and as far as Kuroko knew, Aomine _never _cried.

This was serious.

"Atsushi and I have come to the conclusion that Hitomi's death was no mere hit-and-run, 'for-the-hell-of-it' murder." Akashi begins speaking in his angry leader's voice, the voice that usually makes Kuroko's skin crawl and Kise bawl hysterically. Neither of the two happened.

"What do you mean, Akashi? Surely you aren't suggesting-" is all Midorima manages to choke out before he's cut off by Akashi.

"I am, Shintaro. Hitomi was set up."

You could have heard a pen drop in Teiko's gym at that moment. Every appeared to be holding their breath.

"Set up?" Aomine's voice cracks a little at the last word, his words sounding heavy and laborious when they are usually so light and carefree.

Akashi nods gravely. "If you can recall what Atsushi said, you'd find something amiss immediately. He said Hitomi left to get her math homework, correct?"

Nods.

"Atsushi checked Hitomi's bedroom for her math homework. It wasn't there, and I know for a fact that she did it, because I helped her with it."

A hard swallow. No one else is speaking.

"Hitomi's schoolbags were searched. She never had her math homework. So where did it go, I ask you?"

"She probably just forgot it at school! That's not grounds for a reasonable murder!" Kise shrieks, suddenly sounding like his normal self.

"She didn't forget it, Kise. I was at her home when I was helping her. We had to do a group project for art, remember? Hitomi went and put her math homework on her desk. And it never moved. That is, until someone took it."

A heartbeat.

"WHAT?!"

"Someone obviously stole the paper, knowing Hitomi would go back for it, and ended her while her back was turned. This looks like it's unreasoned and unplanned, but I know it isn't. No one who killed simply for the hell of it would bother to steal her math homework and use it as bait- they wouldn't even know about it."

Silence. Cold, hard silence. And then hysterical tears.

"You're sure?" Aomine whispers. He's rubbing his palms anxiously across his dirty jeans, hands shaky with nerves.

"I wouldn't lie to you, Daiki." Akashi is smoothing Aomine's t-shirt for him in a mothering sort of way, trying to calm his star player down before he does something drastic.

Aomine nods jerkily, but you can tell he's no longer paying attention to Akashi. His cerulean eyes have lost their focus, and he's looking out the window instead of into Akashi's eyes.

"Daiki," Akashi whispers sadly. He can tell something isn't right.

_Something broke._

_._

_._

Kuroko looks at his teammates without saying anything. He watches Kise sob. He watches Midorima struggle to remain his calm façade. He watches Murasakibara struggle to repress his rage.

Kuroko Tetsuya watches himself cry in the bathroom mirror. He's not sure why he's crying- for Hitomi or for the effects her death had on his team? This, he doesn't know. But he knows that nothing will ever be the same again.

I really dislike the way this came out, but I figured I should just upload, since it's been well over three weeks. Pathetic, neh? It's also short, so please forgive me. _Gomenasai, reader!_

_XX Tai_


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